The recent discussion about a possible "A350-1000 ULR" has prompted me to consider how Airbus might do it. A shorter fuselage would obviously save weight and increase range, the traditional "shrink" purpose.
Assume a fuselage length midway between the A359 and A3510. Plus full use of tankage per A359ULR, maybe ACTs as well, and higher MTOW already in the pipeline. Add wing twist and winglet / other aero improvements from the 359ULR, plus the TXWB "EP" engine PiP referred to by Zeke in another thread. Is this A350-1000 shrink a QF Project Sunrise winner? Maybe. Is it worth the investment as the market is small? Maybe not. What else could the development be used for? Consider;
1 A Freighter sized to beat the 777F and potential 778 F. Positioned neatly above an easily developed A330neo F to create an Airbus "family" of freighters with a lot of technical and pilot commonality.
2 If the re-sized fuselage was mated to A350-900 underpinnings and engine we would have an A350-900 stretch, a Regional-range offering sized to beat the B787-10.
Both for a single investment in a fuselage length midway between two already in-service lengths.
Any takers?
Moderators: richierich, ua900, PanAm_DC10, hOMSaR
Who is online
Users browsing this forum: 717atOGG, 74LS00, 9vswr, aamd11, AaronPGH, airguardtn, Andy90, AshFlops, B6FLL954, bchandl, bennett123, boeing767322er, Brickell305, Carrera125, ddaly241, destere, dlflynhayn, doulasc, dtw9, FARmd90, flysouth, georgiabill, Google [Bot], JerseyMike, jtt99, jtwall, Juju2004, lostsound, MCOflyer, mooseofspruce, mrkerr7474, nbc7, qf002, Rootsman, shamrocka330, shaq, socaljoeyb, SXI899, TKflyer, uconn99, USPIT10L, Velocity7, xyzzy01 and 275 guests